A Sense of Community

My drive to work always takes me past the Jewish Community Center in Dunwoody. Most of my Atlanta peeps know where that is. For the rest of my folks not in Atlanta or the United States, imagine Ikoyi Club or any recreation facility in your zone in this world and picture it in Atlanta. Now that we have that out of the way, this community center is huge and it runs for about five or more blocks.

I have never been on the inside (maybe because I ain't a Jew) but I could guess they have just about everything that a recreation center should have and more. I'm talking about basketball courts, tennis courts, a pool, a volley ball area, a playground and I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say they also have a soccer field. Heck, the space they have is big enough for such! And that is just what is on the exterior of this huge community center. I can bet you they probably have a bunch of halls, a tech area and maybe even a work out area in the various buildings that this huge center contains.

Even though I have seen nothing of the sort from other Nationalities in this country, I do notice that most of the businesses in some areas cater to a certain group of people usually of the same ethnic background. But most of the time when I drive past this community center, I wonder to myself why the like can not happen among Nigerians or even Africans in general. And I always have the same answers in my head.

"Maybe I am not looking hard enough"

"Maybe nobody has time to do such"

"Maybe nobody wants to commit to such a project"

These and many other thoughts bounce back and forth in my big head every single time I drive by the center and even sometimes when I have some thinking time to myself at whatever location I might be at. But one of these thoughts always stands out above the others and as I usually say, it just my opinion

"Maybe there isn't a strong sense of community among the Africans in the state."

This is the one that always lingers in my head and it might not be totally true and there definitely is a sense of community among some and I commend them whoever they are. In my opinion though, i feel it is not strong enough and by strong, I mean the size of such communities are not large. Take the Jewish folk for example. I have never seen a community with so many people sticking together and helping each other out. They literally do almost everything as a community and they hardly fail at it. I am pretty sure that such a community can produce individuals who come out and run for office in the state and later come back and give to their community after winning whatever election they ran for. Also, such a community center could not have been built if they just had different communities. It was built by one big community that believed in each other.

I am confident that among us African youth, we have leaders among us but sometimes, such potential can not be discovered if there isn't a strong community to grow in. I am never the one to bring up negative events but in the case that one of ours finds themselves in a bind beyond their power and control, a present community should be able to come through for such a person in any way to brighten up spirits and give encouragement.

A community is not easy to build and such things take time but every great thing has to start somewhere. I believe that the African youth in this state or wherever you are for that matter can work together. Its no secret that there is always some kinda beef going around or some typa drama happening every now and then but I believe that if stuff needs to get done, all differences can be set aside to achieve greatness. It is possible but it has to start with you, me, all of us.

I see this country as a place that lots of Africans will continue to come to for various reasons (Education being the most important) and with an instrument like a strong community, they do not only stand a chance at surviving in the country but also excelling in whatever they set their minds to.

I am sure each and everyone of us has been helped in some way and there is no better way to show appreciation than to help someone else. Not saying that there isn't a community anyway but there has to be a community for all the right reasons. It could even be fun in the process.

I talk too much...

Here's hoping that sometime soon in the future, the African Community in Atlanta will be recognized for the good acts that they perform.

BigTyme Out!!